I have been having problems with my digestion for a while now when I do early morning workouts.
To describe the problem..
I often do my workouts very early in the morning (at 4 or 5 am). I do my rides between 2 and 3 hours.
Whenever I do my workouts that early, I always face constipation problems for a few days afterwards. My digestion stops and I can’t go to the toilet . This can last for a few days.
I usually drink about 700ml per hour of training.
Could the constipation be caused by not drinking enough? Should I have been drinking a lot the night before?
i have had constipation-like issues with very early starts. i think that dehydration can make the situation worse, but i think that the main culprit is the early start that is disruptive to my normal schedule. i don’t have a solution for you.
As I understand it, fiber and water are what’s needed to improve bowel movement. Perhaps a high fiber cereal with a bit more liquid the night before. I actually use dried prunes the night before an event so I can get rid of anything before the start.
Are you adding any sodium and/or sugar to your water for osmolality to help adsorption of the water? Are you sufficiently hydrating off the bike (the day before and right before the workout)? Are you eating anything before getting on the bike?
With respect to the above fluids, sodium, carbs, food, I’d be looking at exactly what steps on the bike days are different from the none-early morning bike days. For example, I drink my normal amount of coffee while doing my zone 2 inside (sometimes I forego the last cup and switch to water sooner, if it’s hot or my stomach isn’t thrilled about another cup of coffee), but my stomach doesn’t prefer that I eat my breakfast before an early z2 ride.
Do you have a history of anxiety issues? Mine anxiety issues show themselves through my gut very often, so a one time issue that makes me anxious can quickly become a regular ocurrence.
This was my issue. Gets worse when we “spring forward” time-wise and I lose an hour before starting my workout to take care of business and then it’s like the windows closed. If I can make space to wake up 30-45 minutes earlier I can get a coffee in and have time to wake up so so speak and things are good.
When I train so early, the time to training is very short..
From bed to training is usually 20-25 minutes.
Before training I always eat white bread and a lot of jam or honey.
I drink a glass of warm water and coffee. During a 3-hour training session I usually drink 3 bottles ( 750ml ).
In two bottles there is isotonic (one serving = 45g CH ) and in the third bottle there are only electrolytes. The rest of the energy I add in the form of gels, chews and bars.
In total I usually consume around 70-80g/h
My “sweatrate” is around 1000ml per hour. I measured that much last season when I weighed myself before and after the rides.
I suspect that the reason could be that I’m consuming too little sodium?
I did a little research on this… My intake is about 1200mg of sodium per 3 hours… That’s almost what I should be getting in an hour. Would it be good if I added some more sodium to my isotonic (1000mg of Table salt.. Which is about 750mg of sodium).
I’m not saying I recommend sodium as a way to resolve your issue (I actually have the opposite problem in the morning), but if you’re going to add more sodium, buy a bag of sodium citrate. It’s inexpensive (I paid $20 for 2lbs), doesn’t make your drink taste salty, and lasts forever.
I can’t say. I was just trying to go through the simplest equation, keeping in mind that one of the big causes of constipation can be dehydration, and knowing that drinking plain water doesn’t always result in that water optimally getting to all the systems that need it due to the osmolality (for all I know this has been debunked, or it could be less critical than I had been led to believe), so the factors could be
that you’re starting at a hydration deficit (I lose 2-3 lbs every night while I sleep, and some is water), and/or
that you’re not getting enough liquid back into your body during, and/or
that you’re not getting enough liquid back into your body after the workout,
maybe you’re peeing too much out (try some salt and sugar in pre and post-ride water?)
I lost 2 lbs during my 1 hr 45 min z2 ride this morning (drinking coffee and water during), so that’s a quart of water lost through sweat and pee. I also know that my body takes in water very effectively when I eat carbs. I’d maybe try drinking a big glass of water, maybe with some sodium citrate and a little maltodextrine or a teaspoon of honey, before bed. And, coffee makes me pee a lot, so I’d guess I probably need to drink more water after the session. Maybe I’d try to drink another glass of water after bread and jam (before the ride. I’m just spitballing here. I was probably chronically dehydrated for a lot of years, and not active at all, so doing any sweaty activity would hit me hard, so I know it can be bad. And when I started biking again, I would be drinking water like crazy during and after the rides, but still getting nauseous and splitting headaches in the evenings…until I started consistently using sodium and got the dosage dialed in. Changed my riding and recovery, for the good. Hope you figure it out soon.
Beyond finding food which is ready to digest, the other type should be medical. If you’re resting plenty of fibre with fluids and stress having ready to digest food in the bike then in theory you should be ok.
This degree of gastrointestinal disorder after reading riding is potentially concerning. But even if it isn’t, they can give advice much better than people on a forum.
. This can last for a few days.
